Maverick Games is a new studio made up of some of the leaders behind Microsoft’s Forza Horizon series. Games Industry reports that the studio is led by Mike Brown, the former creative director on Forza Horizon 5. Other Playground Games veterans have also joined Maverick, who plan to create a AAA open world game. No news on what that game will be or when it arrives, but it will launch on “consoles and PC.”
Microsoft first invested $1 billion into OpenAI in 2019, and has had a close relationship with the ChatGPT creator ever since. Semafor is now reporting that Microsoft is eyeing a $10 billion bet on OpenAI that would see the software giant get 75 percent of profits and a 49 stake in OpenAI. The rumors come days after reports that Microsoft is planning to integrate OpenAI models into Bing, Word, and more.
Microsoft is rumored to be holding a special Xbox event later this month. Windows Central reports a “Developer_Direct” games show will be held on January 25th with Arkane, Bethesda, and more.
Games like Redfall, Forza Motorsport, and Minecraft Legends are all expected to appear, but Starfield might be skipping the show entirely. Microsoft is expected to announce this event in the coming days.
22 years ago, The Rock stood on stage next to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at CES and helped introduce the Xbox to the world. It was a classic moment, especially when The Rock interrupts Bill Gates with “it doesn’t matter what you think Bill.” Microsoft celebrated the 20-year anniversary of Xbox in 2021 with a Halo Xbox Series X, controllers, and Easter eggs. But for today, we’re celebrating xRock day.
Stadia shuts down in 12 days, but that’s not stopping Google from issuing some last minute “bug fixes and improvements.” The mobile apps for Stadia were updated today, just days before Google winds down its game streaming service on January 18th. Google has refunded all Stadia purchases, but I’m still going to miss the Stadia service.
Samsung Display has a bunch of wild displays at CES 2023 this year. The latest Flex Hybrid is a prototype display that’s both foldable and slidable. We’ve seen a bunch of these prototypes over the years, but seeing them all together in the video below makes me feel like maybe one day I’ll be folding or sliding a 17-inch tablet into my pocket.
